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#ManCrushMonday: Skins and Money Monster star Jack O’Connell

On this dreary summer’s Monday we can only but dream that we were sitting next to our #ManCrushMonday, Jack O’Connell.

This Derby lad has seen his star rise and rise in the past few years. From his scene-stealing performance in Skins to the breathtaking epic Unbroken, he is undeniably one to watch.

O’Connell is currently starring in Money Monster alongside George Clooney and Julia Roberts and if that wasn’t enough to convince you how great he is, here’s a few more reasons:

1. He absolutely bossed it as Cook in Skins

After small roles in This is England and Harry Brown Jack sailed through numerous auditions and screen tests before getting the role of James Cook in E4’s Skins. Playing the adrenalin-fuelled, rough bad boy proved to be a breakthrough for O’Connell and the nation fell in love with him.

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2. Since then he’s been creating his own unconventional path

Jack makes smart choices when it comes to the projects he signs up to. From the 2011 football film United to the intensely gripping ’71, each film has a poignant story and each of his roles is complex and gritty. We thoroughly recommend setting up camp in front of your TV and making your way through his filmography, you will be astounded and moved by the depth and variety of his choices.

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3. Everyone loves him and thinks he’s super talented

Jodie Foster:

“He might be the most committed actor I’ve ever worked with. Take after take, the sweat and the fury he brought, it was a joy to watch.”

Angelina Jolie:

“Jack has something very unique to him. I challenge you to find another young man full of more fire.”

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4. He’s so dedicated to his craft.

For his role as Louis Zamperini he went on an 800 calorie-a-day diet in order to lose enough weight to authentically portray a prisoner of war. He also declined a stuntman during the production and even blacked out during the climactic plank lifting scene.

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5. He’s bezzie mates with Angelina Jolie.

Just look at the photos for proof. Ang even came to visit his family in Derbyshire…

“She’s really gotten to know all my people. She’s done things like meet my family and taken us for dinner – one night in Derbyshire. She asked me to pick 10 or 11 people – aunties, godparents, my mum, my nana, who is 78 – and she flew up in her helicopter to this hotel.”

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6. He really really wanted to be an actor.

After getting into quite a lot of trouble in his youth – the teen delinquent label still gets thrown at him in interviews – a teacher at his senior school turned his attentions to drama. Jack used to travel down to London from Derby for auditions and would sleep on park benches if he had to stay overnight.

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#ManCrushMonday: The Last Tycoon’s Matt Bomer

It’s been torture keeping it a secret from our friends and family over the weekend, but we’re overjoyed to now be able to reveal that Golden Globe-winning actor and star of Amazon’s latest pilot The Last Tycoon Matt Bomer is our man crush this Monday! Yaaaay!!!! The reasons to love this multi-talented, painfully good-looking man are manifold, so here are just a few of the ways that he’s stolen our hearts…

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1. His charm is both versatile and timeless.

Whether turning his hand to a charismatic art thief-turned-FBI informant on White Collar, a 1930s movie producer in The Last Tycoon, an AIDS patient in the 1980s in The Normal Heart, ora male stripper in the Magic Mike series, the perfectly symmetrical and chiseled Bomer has proven he can take on any role and ace it.

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2. His voice melts us into a helpless puddle of goo.

Do we mean to say that this faultless physical specimen was also blessed with insane singing abilities? Why yes, yes we do. Here he is performing ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’ while looking impossibly gorgeous as Darren Criss’s older brother on Glee.

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3. His dancing melts us into a helpless puddle of goo.

Seriously, have you seen Magic Mike XXL??!! What we would give to have been one of these spoilt extras in the crowd. We’d clearly keep messing up takes so we could watch him perform it all over again…

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4. He equals dad goals.

We couldn’t choose just one photo of Matt and his three sons with husband Simon Halls, so you’ll just have to deal with the unbearable cuteness of both of these.

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5. He makes the world’s sexiest assassin.

Bomer actually pulls off the impossible by showing up Ryan freaking Gosling and becoming the hottest cast member in new movie The Nice Guys. How is it that he’s still so irresistibly lovable when threatening to kill two little girls? How??!

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6. He’s just a really lovely guy.

To the point where everyone who works with him is left gushing about him. Here are just some of the enamoured things that Bomer’s co-stars have had to say about him:

Channing Tatum: “No matter if you’re a man, woman, cat, hamster, you will get lost in Matt Bomer’s eyes. I don’t know what they are made of outside of dreams and rainbows and amazingness, but it truly doesn’t matter. And when he sings, it’s like God gave with both hands and then grew a third hand and graced him with more. He’s crazy talented.”

Evan Peters: “It was unavoidable to develop a crush on Matt Bomer. You can’t even look him in the eye when you are talking to him. He is too good-looking. It’s kind of crazy. And the guy can form a sentence that perfectly articulates his thoughts.”

Nathan Peterson: “He’s so cool, so sweet and down to earth. Really personable.”